The present invention is an improvement in the field of cylinder cutout systems for internal combustion engines. Such systems are used to enable multiple cylinder engines to function with fewer than all of their cylinders to conserve fuel when less than full power operation of the engine is necessary. Thus, a larger displacement engine in effect can be converted in service to a smaller displacement engine, with the power loss incidental to such reduction being acceptable under light load conditions.
Cylinder cutout systems are well known in the prior art generally, including systems that attempt to modify the operation of the valves of the engine. The usual objective of these devices is to disable one or more of the cylinders of the engine by cutting off fuel thereto or otherwise affecting the cylinder operation so that the cylinder is dead as far as fuel consumption and power output are concerned.
An early patent teaching of a cylinder cutout system wherein fuel is cut off to a single bank of six cylinders in a V-12 engine, with the intake valve of the cut off bank being held closed and the exhaust valves open in the Jones U.S. Pat. No. 1,201,055, granted Oct. 10, 1916. In this example, the valve control system is an electro-mechanical arrangement adapted to work directly on the rocker arm of the valve train to hold the valve elements in the desired open or closed position when it is desired to deactivate the cylinders associated with the valves.
The present invention is an improved valve control system for enabling intake and exhaust valves of the cylinders of an engine to be held respectively closed and open to disable the cylinders of the engine and to conserve fuel and energy. The present system is a simple and efficient improvement over various complex and cumbersome prior art devices, most of which required a special engine design to accommodate them. The present invention, on the other hand, is designed specifically for installation in a simple manner in an existing conventional engine much in the same manner as any other engine accessory.